Test your Smoke Detectors & Install a Carbon Monoxide (CO) Detector in your home!
This time of year we like to use our fireplaces and light candles for ambiance.
Smoke and CO detectors can save lives, especially if you have gas fired appliances in your home.
Even if you don’t burn gas in your home and just have a fireplace or attached garage, it is still recommended.
480 U.S. residents died between 2001 and 2003 from non-fire-related carbon-monoxide poisoning.
So where do you install a CO detector?
Within 10 feet of each bedroom door and near all sleeping areas, where it can wake sleepers.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Underwriters Laboratories (UL) recommend that every home have at least one carbon monoxide detector for each floor of the home, and within hearing range of each sleeping area.
* Note: Many newer homes already have a combination Smoke & Carbon Monoxide detector in the hallways next to the bedrooms. Check yours to be sure, it should say so on the cover. If not you can buy CO detectors that plug into an electrical outlet or mounts on the ceiling. Of course, you should also have smoke detectors in each bedroom, in the hallways immediately outside of the bedrooms, and at least one on each floor of your home.